TOKYO — Japan braced for more heavy rain and floods Monday as the death toll from the worst typhoon to hit the country in seven years climbed to 34. Rescuers searched for 55 others who remained missing, and tens of thousands of families struggled without power or telephone service.
Typhoon Talas, which was later downgraded to a tropical storm, lashed coastal areas with destructive winds and record-setting rains over the weekend before moving offshore into the Sea of Japan. Thousands were stranded as it washed out bridges, railways and roads. The destruction added more misery to a nation still reeling from a catastrophic earthquake and tsunami six months ago.
In one of his first acts in office, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda — sworn in just one day before Talas made landfall — vowed the government would provide as much assistance as quickly as it could. His predecessor, Naoto Kan, was forced out in large part because of public anger over the response to the tsunami, which left nearly 21,000 people dead or missing and touched off the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. “We will do everything we can to rescue people and search for the missing,” Noda said.
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